We're pregnant with our second and our daughter, Charlotte, always draws the baby pictures, kisses my belly, and talks to her little brother. She couldn't be more excited. She's helping us pick out furniture, paint, etc. for the baby's room. Although she wanted a sister, I think she's coming around to the idea of having a little brother

I don't know what the deal is, but last night and again tonight I cannot fall asleep! Last night I was feeling nauseous but tonight I feel fine. MY DH doesn't get home from work until late, and that's still about an hour away. It seems like I just can't make my brain shut down. I don't know if it's excitement, or if I just feel all the sudden like I need my DH here or what. I usually don't go to sleep before he gets home, so even though I'm really tired maybe my body just isn't letting me sleep because it is not my normal schedule. So finally after trying to sleep for like an hour, I'm back on nameberry lol! I didn't feel sick at all today, which was nice. I think it is starting out very sporadic. I have been using the bathroom a lot! Boy, do I NOT miss that symptom, haha!

We are tossing around the idea of not finding out the gender ahead of time. I think it would be fun to have a surprise this time and it might make it easier to keep the name a secret too, which I think we are planning on trying this time. We have a lot of reletives and friends expecting shortly before us so we are thinking it might be safe to keep our names a secret. Then on the other hand, I really want to know, because I want a girl and if we have a girl, we will need to buy clothes. I would also have way more fun decorating a girl's nursery I think. Our son's is pretty simple. Decisions, Decisions....Anyone else have their names chosen already?

I'll be 8 weeks exactly on Sunday. Last week and most of this week I've been feeling nauseous, but not enough to actually be sick; I've also been really exhausted, finding it so hard to drag myself out of bed in the morning! I have a 16month old son and I've been trying to rest/nap while he is napping, but I'm a terrible napper and it often takes me 3/4 of his nap time to drift off, then he wakes up again soon after. DH is away with work until next Friday so by the time Leo's bedtime rolls around I'm quite eager to put him away for the night!

I have my midwife sorted out already which is so nice, seeing as I left it too late last time and had to use the team of midwives at the hospital for all my appointments. It will be really nice to build up a relationship with just one lady this time, and not having to travel to the hospital for appointments will make things so much easier (she does home visits).

How does ante-natal care work where each of you are? I'm in NZ and the norm is to get a midwife unless you need specialist care throughout (i think). Also the care here is free of charge. The only thing I'll have to pay for his prescriptions (iodine & folic acid), but those are both subsidised, so its only $3 ($2.50USD) or so for each script. Both ultrasounds (12 weeks & 20 weeks) are free, but I'm thinking of going in for a dating scan soon just to double check dates and see that everything is developing as it should be, and that will cost $40 ($33ishUSD).

I can't decide if I want to know the gender in advance or not this time around....something to ponder. We haven't chosen any names yet, we've barely even discussed it at this point. I have a favourite girls' name that I'd love to use, but DH isn't convinced (yet...haha)

You'd think this was a novel I was writing! Jeez. I'll sign off now :P

rin- I'm in the U.S. I go to an OB/GYN that is associated with one of the three hospitals in our city. (Think Chicago-area) I have never looked into if there are any midwives here in my city because I would never choose to do a homebirth(I'm not that brave! ) I have a friend who does homebirths but her midwife drives from a few hours away. One of our hospitals has a group of midwives, but you still deliver at the hospital. It is the hospital with the best neo-natal intensive care unit also. I wanted to go there but my health insurance does not cover all of the care there. I am glad I ended up with the dr I did with my son. She is awesome. My sister in law went to her and so I knew if she liked her, I probably would too! She is honestly one of the most caring, genuine doctors I've ever met. She was not "on call" but still came in to deliver my baby. The hospital I got to has been in our city for a long time. They deliver the most babies out of all the hospitals in my state. They are know for the OB department. So, that's how it works for me in the U.S. My husband has good insurance through his job.

Here, midwife doesn't equal homebirth. The midwife I have has only been at one home birth (coincidentally it was a friend of mine, and the homebirth was completely unplanned!) Usually you meet them at the hospital once you are in active labour.
My first birth ended in an emergency c-section for a number of reasons and there is a high chance that I will have another section to deliver this baby. I will likely have a meeting with the OB at around 33 weeks to discuss this. However, just because I may wind up with a surgical birth does not mean that I don't get/need a midwife for ante-natal care this time around.

Not feeling quite so queasy this morning -- yay! But we'll see how the rest of the day pans out, I tend to feel queasy on and off throughout the day. Quite different to last time where I had only the mildest of morning sickeness, only in the morning when I first got up, and a ginger biscuit would do the trick. It also only lasted about a week. Seems to be sticking around a bit more this time.

Hopefully the next few weeks fly and we can finally share our news with family etc.